• don@lemmy.ca
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    4 days ago

    Language is descriptive, so there’s nothing stopping you from using “rooves”, other than what typically results from using words others may not understand. Get enough people over long enough a timeline, and “rooves” becomes the norm, and “roofs” becomes archaic. Just gotta put in the effort.

        • Øπ3ŕ@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          4 days ago

          Not really, unless they’re booving that groofy moof. Then, they’re lost to us, in the land of boxen and meeses.

          • don@lemmy.ca
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            4 days ago

            That sounds exactly like the kind of thing a dirty groofer would say!

            MODS BAN THIS ONE RIGHT NOW WON’T SOMEONE PLEASE THINK OF THE CHILDREN!

    • azertyfun@sh.itjust.works
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      4 days ago

      Linguistics is a descriptive science.

      Language though is not science, it’s a cultural practice. Adhering to a specific set of rules to signal belonging to a specific cultural subgroup is perfectly normal; and deviation from those rules is not a socially neutral act. When and how you deviate signals a lot of things about you and what you’re saying.

      That’s why slang is fascinating. It always tells a story. Whether it’s English Prep School jargon that breached containment, whitewashed AAVL, group in-jokes, unconventional emojis, etc., a slang word says a lot about the person who uses it.

      That is to say, if you unironically start saying “rooves”, I can’t say whether you’ll start a trend that will ultimately change English forever (weirder things have happened). But I can assure you that the immediate effect will be that people will label you “tumblr weirdo”. Which would be a correct assessment, so that’s effective subtextual communication. Yay linguistics!

      • ThisIsNotHim@sopuli.xyz
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        4 days ago

        I think I’ve been saying rooves my whole life. I don’t think I’d generally write it that way, but it feels more natural to say.

        If I have, I’m not sure anyone’s noticed. My speech patterns are odd though, so it might not be terribly noticable. It’s also possible I’ve never had to say the word. It’s not common that you need to pluralize roof.

  • Jiggle_Physics@sh.itjust.works
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    4 days ago

    rooves and roofs are both accepted as correct though? Roofs being the standard is a pretty new thing, and not the more common one everywhere

  • Susaga@sh.itjust.works
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    4 days ago

    Okay, but think about this: Groofy.

    As soon as I typed that, I changed my mind. No longer defending groof.

  • rumschlumpel@feddit.org
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    4 days ago

    Would most native speakers actually pronounce “rooves” differently from “roofs”? Is “grooves” already pronounced differently from a hypothetical “groofs”?

    • bdonvr@thelemmy.club
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      4 days ago

      There is a difference, but it depends on accent. I don’t think anyone would notice in speech if you switched though

    • teft@piefed.world
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      4 days ago

      f is the voiceless labiodental fricative and v is the voiced labiodental fricative.

      Basically for roofs your vocal cords don’t vibrate on the final f sound. For rooves your vocal cords vibrate on the final v sound.

      • rumschlumpel@feddit.org
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        4 days ago

        I know the difference between f and v, the question is whether it makes a difference in this specific case and if yes, whether most native English speakers actually know that. I’m not a native English speaker and words that end in -ooves aren’t that common (when is the last time you said “grooves” or “hooves”?).

        English is famously inconsistent about how written letters are pronounced, and there are a lot of accents.

        • teft@piefed.world
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          3 days ago

          I am a native speaker. The pronunciation difference between those two words, even though one doesn’t actually exist, is only the vibration of vocal cords in the final sound. It’s like belief and believe.

        • ThisIsNotHim@sopuli.xyz
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          4 days ago

          Grooves and hooves are more common words than roofs.

          I think I would notice if someone said groofs or hoofs (although that’s also a word with a different meaning), but I’m really not sure I’d notice rooves vs roofs.

    • Venat0r@lemmy.world
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      4 days ago

      Would most native speakers actually pronounce “rooves” differently from “roofs”?

      I think so, but might depend on thier accent or dialect .

      Is “grooves” already pronounced differently from a hypothetical “groofs”?

      Thats a joke, groofs isn’t actually a word(yet 😅), the singular of grooves is groove.

      • rumschlumpel@feddit.org
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        4 days ago

        Thats a joke, groofs isn’t actually a word(yet 😅), the singular of grooves is groove.

        What exactly do you think “hypothetical” means?